David Cameron: I’ve saved 150,000 Scottish finance-sector jobs

The Prime Minister told a packed and emotionally charged Commons yesterday he had wielded the British veto because he could not receive the guarantees he wanted to protect Britain’s financial services.

But while his message was met with delight among his mostly eurosceptic back-benchers, there was concern on the faces of his Lib Dem coalition partners.

Deep divisions in the coalition were openly on show for the first time. Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was not by Mr Cameron’s side in the Commons after lambasting his diplomacy and “isolationism” over the weekend.

But – after SNP First Minister Alex Salmond had accused Mr Cameron of breaking an agreement with devolved administrations to consult with them over Europe – Mr Cameron pointed out that his decision had protected Scotland as well.

While 1.3 million people in the UK are employed in the financial sector, which makes up 11 per cent of GDP, the Prime Minister told MPs to look beyond the City.

“London is the leading centre for financial services in the world but this sector employs 100,000 in Birmingham, and a further 150,000 in Scotland,” he said.

But Labour leader Ed Miliband accused him of damaging the industry and Britain as a whole by leaving the country isolated and out of further discussions with the other 26 member states.

He accused Mr Cameron of neglecting the national interest to appease Conservative eurosceptics with a result that was “bad for business, bad for jobs, bad for Britain”.

In noisy exchanges that prompted several interventions from the Speaker, Mr Miliband quoted Mr Clegg several times in his dismissal of the Prime Minister’s claims for the summit.

“How can you expect to persuade anyone else it’s a good outcome when you can’t persuade your own deputy?”, he said.

It was not a veto “when the thing you wanted to stop goes ahead without you”, he added.

“That’s called losing, that’s called being defeated, that’s called letting Britain down.”

Branding the outcome of the summit a “diplomatic disaster” for the UK, Mr Miliband accused Mr Cameron of “walking away” from talks instead of negotiating a better deal for Britain.

However, the Prime Minister hit back, demanding to know whether Labour would have signed up to the agreement and accusing the previous governments under Tony Blair of signing away powers and money to the EU for no gain. “If you can’t decide, you can’t lead,” Mr Cameron told the Labour leader.

Earlier he told MPs: “I went to Brussels with one objective: to protect Britain’s national interest, and that is what I did.”

In a swipe at Mr Clegg, he said that he had discussed his strategy before going to Brussels and was “surprised that some people were surprised” by his decision to use the veto.

Meanwhile, Tory eurosceptics insisted that Mr Cameron had strengthened Britain’s negotiating position by showing he was willing to say “No”.

Back-bencher Andrew Rosindell applauded him for “displaying the bulldog spirit in Brussels”, while former minister John Redwood said Britain’s negotiating position was stronger because other European states now know “they are dealing with a Prime Minister who will say ‘No’ if he needs to”.

But others wanted Mr Cameron to go further, with Tory New Forest MP Julian Lewis asking when British voters would have their opportunity to say no to the EU. But Mr Cameron insisted the UK’s future “is as a member of the EU”.

Lib Dems were clear they believed Mr Cameron had damaged Britain’s position in the EU.

Martin Horwood, Lib Dem MP for Cheltenham, questioned whether the UK’s interests were now at greater risk following Mr Cameron’s decision to use the veto. He said: “What positive reassurance can you give to potential foreign investors that we will remain at the heart of European decision-making?”

Last night, the SNP said Mr Cameron had not saved 150,000 Scottish jobs but instead had sold Scotland short.

SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said: “David Cameron failed to consult his own coalition partners before vetoing European treaty changes, let alone involving the Scottish Government and other devolved administrations. In so doing, the Prime Minister has effectively torn-up the terms of his own concordat with the devolved administrations in order to pander to the Little Englander attitude on the Tory back-benches.

“The Prime Minister has sold Scotland short without any consultation about the veto, or apparently any assessment of the likely impact of his actions.” `